Boo wrote:I'm more interested to know how many alcohol related deaths there have been after alcohol dependent claimants were awarded thousands of pounds in back pay.I can think of many of my clients who died after receiving crazy amounts of money.

Aside from not screwing up in the first place, what would you have had them do?

Once a claim for ESA has been made the claimant goes on an assessment rate - which is the same rate as JSA.The decision to award a higher amount is decided after a medical assessment has taken place.Should the claimant be placed into the support group (which pays more than the assessment or work capability rate) - they will receive more money. The issue for those who are chronically dependent on alcohol is that they will receive the support (higher) element in back pay to when they first made their claim for ESA.

I propose that stops. The higher rate should only be paid from the date the claimant is assessed (and put into the support group) and not from the date they made the initial claim for ESA.

God - "I have made Mankind!"Angels - "You screwed up a perfectly good monkey is what you did. Look at it. It's got anxiety!"

Boo wrote:I propose that stops. The higher rate should only be paid from the date the claimant is assessed (and put into the support group) and not from the date they made the initial claim for ESA.

Do you think they should not be entitled to the money, or is that simply the practical aspect that it is going to kill them?If the latter, then wouldn't it be better to put it into some kind of fund where they cannot exchange it for alcohol? Obviously there would be extreme difficulties in administrating that, but one step at a time...

And you don't think the waiting list for assessment is long enough already, without giving the DWP a financial incentive for delaying it further? That said, has anyone tried an action on this under Article Six? If the delays are proving fatal, it is hard to argue that they are being dealt with in a reasonable time... though obviously somewhat harder for the deceased to bring their case.

If a claimant is not in the support group until after the assessment, I don't see why they should get back pay from 13 weeks after making the initial claim.

However, Atos were slow at assessing people. They took from 6 to 18 months to send out an appointment. Now they've been sacked and Maximus have got the contract, I've noticed an improvement in waiting times for an assessment. It's still early days though.

God - "I have made Mankind!"Angels - "You screwed up a perfectly good monkey is what you did. Look at it. It's got anxiety!"